This article first appeared in the Journal of the Old Tuam Society in 2021.
The presence of a full achievement of arms complete with a coronet of an earl on the Glynn gravestone at Cummer poses our heraldic conundrum. It begs the question as to whom the gravestone was intended for, or why the Glynn family would identify with these elaborate arms. One of the eighteenth-century Burke gravestones at Cummer depicts some mortality symbols along with what appears to be the family crest. The inclusion of four shamrocks on the eighteenth-century Nolan gravestone is also curious and the Nolan family crest on the archway at nearby Ballinderry provides further additional context in the relation to the Glynns.
A late medieval church is located in the early ecclesiastical enclosure in
the townland of Glebe. The graveyard is also within this enclosure and includes
the fine burial vault with a corbelled roof, dedicated to Edmondus de Burgo and
dated 1730. The townland of Glebe consists
of some fifteen acres and is bordered by the much larger townland of Cummer (650
acres) and both are in the civil parish of Cummer. The graveyard is usually
referred to as Cummer. The Glynn gravestone of interest carries the inscription
for the five brothers:
In |
Memory | Of | The Brothers | Stephen, John | William, Michael | And | Thomas Glynn | R.I.P. | A.D. 1887.
The achievement of arms of the Earl of
Granard along with compass, set square and gavel.
Thomas Glynn died on 2 January 1887 aged 77 at Tuam Workhouse and his occupation was given as a 'stonecutter'. He appears to be last of the brothers to die and it is probable that the inscription was added to the gravestone sometime after that. It would be natural to check if the arms matched those of some aristocratic Glynn family. One such similar local example is the Hale coat of arms, dated 1836 for Archbishop MacHale over the door of the Cathedral (R.C.). No such arms for Glynn were found and it transpires that they are in fact those of Forbes, Earl of Granard. They consist of three bears' heads (muzzled). The supporter on the left is a unicorn and that on the right is a dragon with expanded wings. The crest over the earl's coronet is a bear passant. The family motto 'Fax mentis incendium gloriæ' is not legible or not included at Cummer.
The building of St Colman's Church at Corofin was commenced in 1829 by Canon Patrick Canavan P.P. and completed by his nephew Dr Patrick Duignan in 1844. Skilled masons, carpenters and craftsmen would have been required to carry out this work. It has been conjectured that the local stone mason family, the Glynns of Curry would have been employed. They were highly skilled, having previously worked for the Nolans at Ballybanagher and at Ballinderry. In 1834 the Glynns were contracted to build the bridge over the river Grange on the Tuam to Ballyglunin Park road.[1] The listing of both Stephen and Thomas Glynn at Curry Oughter in Griffith's Valuation (c. 1855) is noted.
The IHS motif and trumpeting angels on the Glynn gravestone.
The Glynn gravestone with the achievement of arms of the Earl of Granard, may have already been carved prior 1887 where space was reserved for an additional inscription. The gravestone could have been previously commissioned by the Earl of Granard, or perhaps the Glynns may have produced a duplicate for their own grave. The religious symbolism on the gravestone consists of the IHS motif within a sunburst flanked on either side by trumpeting angels. The keys of St Peter are also present along with a dove. Also noted beside the achievement of arms are the additional symbols of the compass, set square and gavel. These symbols are often associated with freemasons but in the case of the Glynns, they were stonemasons. The IHS motif and keys have strong Catholic connotations and would appear to rule out a freemason association.
The Burke Gravestone
The other gravestone of heraldic interest is that of Richard Burke. It depicts what looks like the Burke family crest, a cat, along with the mortality symbols of the skull and crossbones and coffin. The inscription reads: I.H.S. | Pray for the souls of | Richd Burke his son | Wm Burke & wife | The(r?) Rose who | Erecd ... Momt | Jan 1780.
The cat, skull, crossbones and coffin on the
Burke gravestone at Cummer
The Nolan Gravestones
Two gravestones just outside the old ruined church are both dedicated to a young child, Andrew Nolan. Both inscriptions together follow and have been reworked in conjunction with those already recorded:[1]
Underneath this stone doth lyeth | the Body of A Noble child in token | of greif (sic.) & great respect to his | Memory this Monumt I do erect | the 1th7 of octobr 80 he Dec | isd the 4th yr of his Age | Andrew Nolan A.D.
Farewell fond child to
you be | that Peace to Virtue Due | in seats of Bliss Prepd
in He | aven for all the Just like you. | John (?) Nolan.
One of these gravestones depicts three larger shamrocks (trefoils) and a fourth smaller one. These appear to represent the three 'full' years of age and part of the fourth year of the child's life. The recorded inscription gives the date as 1780 but it appears to read as '80, that stands for 1780. Clearly the style of the gravestones dates them from the eighteenth century.
All the gravestones mentioned are listed and mapped on the marble display panel that was erected at Cummer in July 2020. They are Burke (208), Glynn, Corofin (222), Nolan (183), and Nolan (184).
Four
shamrocks (trefoils) on the Cummer gravestone to Andrew Nolan.
Right:The
Nolan crest on the keystone on the archway at Ballinderry.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to the staff of the library at Tuam and to Gerard Crotty, Jim Higgins and Ruairí Ó hAodha for their comments and helpful conversation.
[1] 'Cummer Cemetery', 1999/2000, Corofin News, No. 12, p. 56.
[2] Maura Nolan, 1991, The Nolans of Ballinderry, The Corofin News, No. 4, pp 9-11.
[1] Sean Cunningham, 1994, 'Celebration of 150th year of
Corofin Church - October 1994: The Building of the Church 1829-1844', The Corofin News, No. 7, pp 11-19.
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